Chapter 7
“Are there any leads?”
Yasuhara Mori asks his subordinate and partner, Kamiya Atsuko. Because of the significant age difference between them, people often mistake them for parent and child when they’re out on a case together. That makes Yasuhara feel a bit self-conscious.
Mamoru Yasuhara, 52 years old. He is a man known by both the nicknames “Buddha Yasuhara” and “Demon Yasuhara”. He’s remarkably open-minded for his age and rarely clings to rigid theories about police work. Perhaps that’s why he’s so popular with his juniors; these days, alongside chasing cases, he also serves as a mentor to the younger officers.
Kamiya Atsuko, 27 years old. As befits a detective, she’s a tough, no-nonsense woman. She often acts on impulse, and is currently training under Yasuhara.
“After reviewing the security camera footage, it appears the suspect took a hostage and fled. That matches the testimony of the people who were in the bank. But…….”
“But what?”
Yasuhara spoke to Kamiya, who had faltered.
“We tracked their movements after they left the bank using nearby security cameras, and it appears the hostage was leading the suspect.”
“…… What?”
Not understanding, he asked again.
“I checked several security camera feeds myself. I saw footage of the female hostage taking the suspect by the hand and running off.”
“Are you saying she’s an accomplice?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“So, where are the two of them now?”
“It looks like they crossed the street and got on a bus. And that bus was involved in an accident.”
“No way, you don’t mean the suspect …?”
“No, it was a rear-end collision. It looks like a truck plowed into them while passing.”
“And then?”
“The two are still at large.”
Yasuhara crossed his arms and took a deep breath.
◇◇◇
By the time we got off the train, the sun was already setting.
We got off at the intended destination. It was an unmanned station with no station staff. That said, it wasn’t completely devoid of houses—it was a fairly rural area.
Shinji and I started walking towards the mountain. If we headed toward the houses, someone might spot us. People in the countryside tend to remember strangers they don’t usually see. So I wanted to make our way into the mountains before anyone noticed us.
After following the road for a while, we come across an unpaved road that leads towards the mountains. If you go straight down this road, you should probably find a shrine. At least, it exists according to the app.
In the countryside, you sometimes find shrines tucked away behind rice paddies or at the foot of mountains. The area near my maternal grandparents’ house was a rural place like this, and there was a shrine halfway up the mountain. It was small, but by rural standards, it had a proper torii gate and a main hall.
“There it is. Over there.”
As we walked along the mountain path, which was starting to grow dim, we spotted a red torii gate over two meters tall. Moss-covered stone steps stretched upwards, and Shinji and I climbed them, stepping firmly with each step.
In the center of the shrine grounds stood the main hall. Walking around it, it seemed to be the only building there.
“Are we going to sneak in?”
Shinji pointed to the main hall and asked.
“Hmm~, that feels a bit presumptuous. I’m not particularly religious, but I think we should refrain from just barging in.”
I moved under the roof of the main hall, clasped my hands together, and silently prayed, “Please let me stay here just a little “.
I sat down on the steps leading up to the main hall and motioned for Shinji to join me. He followed my lead and sat down next to me.
“So, what next?”
Shinji asks.
“Hmm, I haven’t decided yet. Maybe we can just stay here until morning. If you can survive until tomorrow and make it through the night… maybe that will be a success… At least this is the longest you’ve lasted out of the five times so far. If surviving that bus accident earlier was the right move, then maybe…”
“…… maybe?”
“Maybe we both survive.”
We fell silent.
If that were the case, morning would come as usual, and Shinji wouldn’t have died. If that happened, I probably wouldn’t have to go back to that place anymore.
But what about Shinji?
Even if he survives, what would happen after that…… should we just go to the police?
Wouldn’t turning ourselves in at least give us an advantage in court? Is that too naive a thought?
I don’t know anything about the legal system.
“On the train, you know….”
Shinji broke the silence with a quiet remark.
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“The story about happened in the first loop?”
“Yes.”
On the train ride here, I’d been recounting everything to Shinji in chronological order.
“Um… hey. You wanting to save me… it’s ’cause you want to get out of the loop, right?”
“Huh?”
For a moment, I didn’t understand what he was saying, so I asked him to repeat himself.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Suddenly, Shinji turned away.
The reason I’m helping Shinji….
“Of course, that’s part of it. Actually, at first, that was all there was to it. But now it’s different.”
“Huh?”
“Now… I want to save you, Shinji-kun. Of course, saving your life, but it’s not just that…… you yourself too, I guess.”
I felt a bit embarrassed.
Maybe he felt embarrassed too, because he suddenly started scratching his head.
It was completely dark all around.
As expected of a mountainside in the countryside, there wasn’t a single light in sight. Only a slightly crescent moon illuminated our field of vision.
“Oh, want some onigiri?”
To change the subject, I took out an onigiri I’d bought at a convenience store from my bag. I’d bought it just in case before getting on the train.
“Sure. Salmon and tuna.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll have the pickled plum and mixed chicken, then.”
Even at times like these, I still get hungry. Somehow, that makes me feel truly alive, and it brings me joy.
“Itadakimasu.”
I tried my best to act cheerful and took a bite of my onigiri. Shinji followed suit and took a bite of his as well. The crisp sound of the nori was somehow comforting.
“Y’know…”
As he ate his onigiri, Shinji began to speak. Instead of answering, I tilted my head slightly.
“This might sound cliché, but I grew up in a complicated family.”
“Yes.”
“It was just me, my mom, and my grandma. My mom was hardly ever home, so it was my grandma who raised me.”
He stared intently at his onigiri and continued speaking.
“I think things were still normal until I was in the lower grades of elementary school. Grandma was still in good health back then. But around fourth or fifth grade, Grandma started getting sick. But we didn’t have any money, so it seems she never went to the hospital or anything.”
“…… I see.”
“So, she got worse and worse, and it became hard for her to even walk. Once that happened, no one was there to take care of me… or rather, I had to start taking care of Grandma.”
“That’s what they call a ‘young carer,’ isn’t it?”
It has become a problem recently. It’s when young children are forced to take on household chores and family care that should really be done by adults.
“But until then, I’d only ever been taken care of, so I had no idea what to do or how to do it… The house gradually got dirtier, we lived off convenience store bento boxes, and since Grandma couldn’t take a bath, she started to smell worse and worse. It was just… awful.”
Oh, just imagining it is a painful sight.
“Was there any adult nearby you could turn to?”
“No. I guess I could have told a teacher or something, but I was kind of embarrassed, so I couldn’t say anything. When my mom finally came back home after a long time, I broke down and cried to her. Then she got really mad at me.”
“Huh? Why?”
I lean forward.
“‘After all the care she’s given you all this time, why can’t you look after her!’”
“What kind of thing is that to say!”
I got so angry that I jumped to my feet without thinking.
“Shinji-kun, you have absolutely no responsibility for that!”
“Well, I can see that now, but at the time, I felt like I was doing something really bad, so I cried and apologized……”
“That’s awful!”
“So, starting the next day, I stopped going to school and started taking care of my grandma. I’d go grocery shopping at night so I wouldn’t run into friends, and I’d stay cooped up at home all day.”
“My goodness …….”
“That’s when I found Kinako.”
“Ah!”
A cat only Shinji knew about.
“There’s a shrine between my house and the supermarket. It’s a bit bigger than this one. There’s a swing in the grounds, and it’s a shrine where my grandma and I used to play often when she was still healthy. I suddenly felt nostalgic, so I stopped by. And then…”
“That’s when you found Kinako!”
I plopped down and stared at Shinji.
“Yeah. Maybe she was hungry—she came rubbing against me while meowing. I’d just gotten back from shopping, so I gave her some chikuwa (fish cake). She devoured it in a flash.”
“How cute.”
I love cats too.
“Then we played around for a while. The next day, and the day after that, we went to the shrine again.”
“So you were taking care of her in secret.”
“Yes. But one day, she suddenly stopped showing up. I looked for her, but she wasn’t there. Not the next day, or the day after that.”
“…… Where did you go?”
“I heard she was picked up by someone. She was so friendly and cute, after all.”
“…… I see.”
“The shrine and the onigiris… somehow they remind me of the past……”
He smiled sadly and threw the onigiri he was holding into his mouth.
I felt so uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do, so I just…
“You were so brave.”
I ended up patting Shinji-kun on the head.
“Haha, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Shinji-kun said with a laugh.
At that moment, I felt like I was really seeing Shinji-kun’s face for the first time. A normal, ordinary boy… Oh, maybe I’ll get scolded for calling him a boy. But still, his smiling face is cute. He’s a good kid, I’m sure. He just happened to go down the wrong path a little bit.
“I’ll help you.”
“Huh?”
I stared into Shinji-kun’s eyes and said.
“Shinji-kun, I’ll do everything I can to help with your ‘future’. So you’re not alone anymore.”
It must have been the moonlight.
That must be it.
Shinji-kun leaned in, so I brought my face closer.
My first kiss smelled like seaweed.
Sads Translates 